I understood the first link. I went to looking for another source for the story but as with many things in the BO years that's not always easy to accomplish. Every time I followed another google link it brought me back to the first story.

Anyway, I can see BO and his band of commies trying to pull a fast one but reading the article(s) the people in GW's term dropped the ball too. And this simply can not be allowed to happen no matter who is in the drivers seat. Any official in any capacity that has anything to do with any citizen's voting rights not being counted should be removed from office and brought up on charges for violating all those soldiers Constitutional rights. If anyone has earned their right to vote I would think that those that are willing to hang their rear out there in our all volunteer military.

I hate only having one source for any story so I'm going to look around a little and see if anyone else is reporting on this. But as I said anyone that is allowing this to happen is nothing less than a criminal.

Bigcountry02

08-13-2010 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CA357
(Post 331088)

I'm not sure, maybe I'm confused, could somebody can help me out here? Didn't this used to be the United States of America?

EDITORIAL: Silencing the citizen soldier
Justice foot-dragging disenfranchises the military

Military voting rights still aren't protected. That's the message from former Justice Department official M. Eric Eversole, who argues in a column at the front of this section that his former employer is undermining the new law requiring states to mail ballots to military voters at least 45 days before the November elections. If anything, the situation might be even worse than Mr. Eversole suggests.

The Obama administration refuses to release the waiver requests filed by a dozen states and territories claiming an inability to meet the legal deadline. Mr. Eversole and 17 members of Congress led by Rep. Robert E. Latta, Ohio Republican, sought this information through formal requests.

One of the states requesting a waiver, Colorado, held its primary three days ago - a whopping 84 days ahead of the November election. It defies belief that the Centennial State would claim that it doesn't have enough time to mail ballots to military voters by the law's deadline of Sept. 18. Colorado Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, a Democrat, insists that he is unable to comply, and his spokesman Rich Coolidge admitted that some military votes won't get counted as a result. Mr. Buescher did post online the letter he sent with the waiver request, in which he claimed compliance would be "extremely difficult" in light of the state's Sept. 3 date for "ballot certification."

That leaves 15 days after certification to print and mail the ballots. With all the modern technology available, it's hardly credible that this is something that cannot be made to happen. Other states that are dragging their feet and demanding waivers include Washington state, where the primary is Aug. 17, and Alaska, where the primary is Aug. 24. Again, these dates are well ahead of the legal deadline.

In the eight states where primaries are not held until Sept. 14, the waiver requests make some sense. Nonetheless, the law requires that these jurisdictions find some other way to guarantee that military votes can be cast and counted on time and that they detail how this will be accomplished despite missing the 45-day deadline. The public has a right to see and evaluate all such plans.

The lack of transparency on this issue makes it difficult to know whether the Justice Department takes seriously the right of military personnel serving overseas to have a say in the way our government is run. Those who risk their lives on behalf of this country should not be disenfranchised because the administration refuses to do its job.

Former Maryland governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) took aim Thursday at the state's decision to seek a waiver from a new federal law that requires mailing absentee ballots to overseas military personnel at least 45 days before an election, a measure meant to ensure those votes are counted.

Flanked by several military veterans and using the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis as a backdrop, Ehrlich called the waiver request "pitiful," "embarrassing," "disgraceful" and disrespectful of soldiers from Maryland who are now "crawling through caves in Afghanistan."

"We shouldn't have to be here today," said Ehrlich, who is seeking to win his job back from Gov. Martin O'Malley (D). "Maybe we can embarrass the O'Malley campaign into doing the right thing."

The state's waiver application makes its case with dispassionate math. There are only 48 days between Maryland's September primaries and its November general election, according to a letter to federal officials from the Maryland State Board of Elections. The state's primary results do not become official until 35 days before the general election, and the general election ballot is not approved until 28 days before the election.

"I, as Maryland's chief election official, have determined that the state is unable to meet the 45-day mailing requirement for the 2010 General Election due to an undue hardship," says the letter from Linda Lamone, the state's elections administrator, which also details steps the state is taking to make it easier for overseas military personnel to vote.

O'Malley campaign manager Tom Russell said that other states with September primaries are also seeking waivers from the federal law -- which he said would require moving the primary date to comply.

"Governor O'Malley always stands behind our men and women in uniform, and will protect their ability to have their voices heard in this and every election," Russell said.

Russell said he also found it "strange to see Bob Ehrlich try to make an issue of voting rights, after his legendary dirty tricks four years ago sought to disenfranchise Marylanders for his own political gain."

Russell said he was referring in part to glossy fliers handed out on Election Day in predominantly African-American precincts. Under the headline "Democratic Sample Ballot" were boxes checked in red for Ehrlich and then-U.S. Senate candidate Michael S. Steele, who were not identified as Republicans.

Among the military veterans who joined Ehrlich at Thursday's event were his father and George W. Owings III, who served as veterans affairs secretary when Ehrlich was governor. Owings, a former state delegate from Southern Maryland, announced a bid this year to challenge O'Malley in the Democratic primary but backed out citing health problems.

Ehrlich also brushed aside a question from a reporter at the event about the decision of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to endorse his GOP rival, Brian Murphy. Ehrlich called the endorsement "not terribly relevant to anything."

pandamonium

08-13-2010 11:07 PM

The Move Act was signed into law in Oct. of '09, what do they mean they don't have time to get the ballots out, no excuses, no BS, ALL American Citizens have the right to vote!

Kimber45

08-13-2010 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrumJunkie
(Post 331243)

I understood the first link. I went to looking for another source for the story but as with many things in the BO years that's not always easy to accomplish. Every time I followed another google link it brought me back to the first story.

Anyway, I can see BO and his band of commies trying to pull a fast one but reading the article(s) the people in GW's term dropped the ball too. And this simply can not be allowed to happen no matter who is in the drivers seat. Any official in any capacity that has anything to do with any citizen's voting rights not being counted should be removed from office and brought up on charges for violating all those soldiers Constitutional rights. If anyone has earned their right to vote I would think that those that are willing to hang their rear out there in our all volunteer military.

I hate only having one source for any story so I'm going to look around a little and see if anyone else is reporting on this. But as I said anyone that is allowing this to happen is nothing less than a criminal.

Yo DJ, I sent you three links, the first written recently explaining just how big of a fubar this is and the second and third as dated reference. The post by Big Country help clarify the issue. Please post anything you find, even if it's contrary to what has been posted, we need to get this out.

Murfdog

08-14-2010 12:07 AM

How strange it seems,most of those states are leftist states.Just another step toward socialism that is what this administration is all about!!Lets vote them ALL OUT of OFFICE!!!!!!!This kind of stuff make me sick to my stomach!
What a sad sad day!